


The Worst Had Yet to Come

by Punk_Grape



Series: Angel/Demon AU [6]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angel Wings, Blood and Torture, Blood and Violence, Character Death, Implied/Referenced Torture, Inferred mental break, M/M, Psychological Torture, Torture, Violence, angel demon au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:42:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28885560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Punk_Grape/pseuds/Punk_Grape
Summary: There were hunter angels, but those paled in comparison to the rogue group of demons even the king cannot control.
Relationships: Aloha/Army (Splatoon), Emperor/Rider (Splatoon), OC/OC
Series: Angel/Demon AU [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1911679
Kudos: 4





	The Worst Had Yet to Come

**Author's Note:**

> Quick rundown:  
> \- Emperor is the king of demons,  
> \- Rider and Army are Archangels   
> \- Rider and Emperor have had a hybrid kid, Truffle  
> \- Aloha fell in love with Army and starved himself as a result of living together   
> \- Skull and Aviator are hunters   
> \- Hunter is also a hunter angel (creative I know), he’s the reason Sesame is blinded in one eye

That was the fifth sigh Emperor had let out that day alone, he was getting worried, no one could blame him. “Why not go have a chat with them,” Rider offered. “At least see why they’re here, you’re the king you can request that much at least.” Emperor had thought about that, but wasn’t sure it was a good idea, he didn’t want to leave his family. “We’ll be fine, the barriers are in place and only certain people can get in and out. It’ll make you less concerned, please?” 

And so, after some nudging, Emperor agreed, headed off to where he last heard their main residence was. Rider was relieved, hopefully that would put the king at ease, as well, it got him out of the house. He didn’t disagree with the barriers, he simply didn’t agree that he couldn’t leave at all. It was stuffy in there, he wanted to stretch his wings, and maybe let Truffle feel the outside. It was nice weather outside, perfect for at least a little stroll; they’d stay by the barrier, just in case, but Rider had serious doubts about how difficult this group of demons were. 

He knew the king wanted to protect his family, and appreciated it, but he wasn’t some helpless angel. He was an archangel, a fallen one at that, he could handle things. And so, once both had their shoes on, Rider led Truffle outside. 

The smile the girl had was stunning, it filled Rider’s heart knowing she was that happy and excited to be going outside. It even distracted him for a moment as they left the boundaries, all his attention was on his daughter. Something in the air changed, however, drawing his attention away, long enough to realize what had changed. Without thinking, he pushed Truffle backwards through the barriers, the girl stumbling and falling, confused why her dad had shoved her away. His wings were flared on instinct, he was no weak angel, he wouldn’t go down without a fight. 

The demons, four in total, appeared in an instant, two latching onto him quickly, the third grabbing his wings as he tried to beat the others away with them. The fourth, the leader, looked Rider over; he was strong, sure, and it may take a long time, but he would break him, he always broke angels, archangels or not. He watched as the one holding onto the wings grinned, the girl thrilled to be in her element. 

The demons that held onto Rider barely fazed him, he knew how to handle a few demons. But the one holding his wings had decided to start pulling, making it feel like she was trying to tear them right off his back. She was, but he was one of the stronger types, it would take her a bit to actually disconnect them from the angel. Rider couldn’t help it, he yelled out in pain as his wings were pulled back and apart, the whole scene terrifying Truffle, who could only sit and watch in terror. 

Something moved out of the corner of her eye, drawing her attention there for a moment, and she started to feel less helpless. The angel her dads allowed around her, Sesame, had just come over for a visit, but stumbled into a horror scene. He noticed Truffle sitting just behind the barriers, tears falling down her cheeks from being scared. “Please help daddy!” she called out. Sesame nodded, he’d do his best, even if there were four demons, he had to try. 

The girl calling out had alerted the leader that someone else had stopped by, annoyed that he’d have to divert this newcomer. However, when he saw the angel flying towards him as fast as possible, he grinned. How did the child think this angel could possibly do anything? He flew up to meet him head on, and with one swift strike sent him crashing to the ground below. “Useless,” the demon muttered. As he landed, he picked up the angel with ease, and thought for a moment. “Let that one go, this one will suffice,” he told the others. Clearly the girl knew him, he’d do, and would be so easy to break too. 

The one holding Rider’s wings let out a frustrated huff, disappointed she didn’t get to tear his wings off, but followed their leader’s orders, and let him go. As soon as Rider was free, he bolted behind the barriers, breathing heavy as he grabbed Truffle and ran back to their house. “Pathetic,” the leader remarked, then took off, his group following close behind. 

Rider was shaking as he sat down, refusing to let Truffle leave his grip even though they were safe. “Daddy, what happened?” 

“I don’t know, Truffs. They just- it was so fast. Promise me you will not go outside the barriers.” 

“I promise. Why did they take Sesame? They were hurting you but-“

Rider held her close in a hug, stopping her mid sentence. “I don’t know, but it’s not good.” He was downplaying it for her sake, she was attached to that angel, but he was as good as dead, or almost. This was something he was not looking forward to relaying to Navy, it would get him killed too if he tried to rescue him, but he had to. “I need to go make a phone call, sit here until I get back.” 

When Truffle nodded, Rider left the room, dipping into the first room available. “Pick up, pick up,” he muttered as the phone rang. “It’s Rider. I need you to listen. First I need you to swear that you will not leave your house, I- look, just promise me you’ll sit your ass down and stay down. Sess was taken by a group of demons. I know, it’s why I said stay, it’s Vintage and his group.” 

There was silence on the phone, he wasn’t sure if he’d hung up, so he decided to test the waters. “We’ll get him back, Emperor knows where they are.” Rider nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a loud thud on Navy’s end, swiftly followed by a clatter on what sounded like wood. “Navy? We’ll get him back.” Even if it was an attempt, Rider wasn’t getting through to him; he’d thrown his phone at the wall, shaking in anger and fear. He may have survived Hunter, but there was no way in hell Sesame would survive Vintage.  
-  
When Emperor had returned, something felt off, Rider was scared, not much scared him. As soon as he saw him holding their daughter, he figured something bad had happened. “Rider?”

Truffle looked up as Emperor sat beside them, struggling out of Rider’s grip in order to sit on his lap. “Daddy got hurt today, it was scary.”

Blood red eyes looked Rider over in concern, the angel brushing it off. “I’m fine. Bit sore from having my wings almost pulled off.”

“What?!”

“After you left, we went outside for a walk. We tried to step outside the barriers but as soon as we did we were jumped. I pushed Truffs back in. I didn’t think those four posed that much of a risk.” 

The four demons he had gone to look for, lying in wait at his own house. “Wait. Why aren’t you... more hurt?” Emperor held back, he didn’t want to scare their daughter by saying torn to pieces.

“Sesame was coming to say hi,” Truffle interjected. “But he tried to help Daddy, and got got instead. The demons let Daddy go and took him away.” 

Emperor leaned his head backwards. ‘Fucking idiot, that angel is going to get himself killed,’ he thought to himself. “I checked where they were supposed to be, apparently they gave me false information.” 

“Shit...” Rider whispered, Truffle not hearing him. “Truffle, darling, go find the cat to play with, I’m sure she’s lonely.” Their daughter nodded, and moved off of Emperor; as soon as she left, Rider faced Emperor. “How long will it take to find?” 

“A week ish.” 

“Fuck, he’ll probably be dead by then.” 

“I’ll do the best I can, I can’t guarantee anything. You know how hard I had to fight that stupid hunter angel.” 

Rider’s shoulders fell, even if he survived a week, he had no idea how much would be left of him, if the one demon that almost tore his wings off with their bare hands was any indication.  
-  
Lucky, or unlucky, for the small angel, Vintage had no desire to kill him, he’d be too fun to play with to just outright kill. He’d woken up just as they’d started, first thing first, they had to restrain him in some way. Rope was boring, tape was easily broken; the demons had an affinity for chaining angels up, though it required some modifications. What had brought Sesame out of unconsciousness was the agonizing pain of someone drilling a hole through the bone of his wing, near the base. The pain burned, he was familiar with it, he’d felt it before, but that didn’t make it any easier. 

Tears freely fell as the drill cleared one bone, allowing another person to hook a chain through it, and started on the opposite wing. He hadn’t cried out yet, he wept silently, having been down this path before. 

Once the others were done, Vintage nodded for them to leave, he had work to do. As soon as the door shut, he began inspecting the angel much more closely, circling him like a shark. “Looks like you’ve gotten in trouble before, there’s scars- hold on.” 

He stepped behind him, looking closely at the wing; they were bloodied, but he could make out very distinct marks. “You lost your wings before,” he said, grabbing ahold of one wing to give it a tug, finally eliciting a gasp of pain from him. “You certainly have been around.” 

“You have... no idea... what I’ve ... been through,” Sesame breathed out, shaking from the pain. 

Vintage raised an eyebrow. “Oh I’m sure I’ll get all of it out of you, after all you really are pathetically small for an angel.” 

Sesame was determined not to say anything to him; he’d survived attack after attack, this one demon he could handle. “I won’t break, the others couldn’t, what makes you think you can?” 

“Oh I know I can. Aside from the fact that even the demon king himself fears me, I believe I have heard of you. Resilient little thing, refusing to stop.”

“You said-“

“Oh I know what I said. It’ll be all the more sweeter hearing it from you, drawing it out in tears, though I already know. You’ve survived two hunter angels, not a small feat. Here’s the thing, you may have dealt with angels, but you have not dealt with a demon. Angels healing is significantly impacted if a demon inflicts damage, and that I can assure you, you will experience. When I’m done with you, you will beg for death, each day more miserable than the last. You won’t even resemble your former self, you will be a shell.”

“Do your worst, I’ve already lost my wings once and am blinded in one eye.”

“Your wings will be the least of your concern.” Sesame was still determined to not give the demon anything he wanted, no mater what. Vintage could do any number of things to him, he’d refuse to let anything slip. “Why are the runts always the more stubborn.”

The wings were what kept Sesame in one spot, Vintage would remove them later, after he had made him basically incapable of ever hoping to escape. No, to start, he figured something simple. “What do you think, heads or tails?” 

As if he’d answer.

“Choose, or you get a baseball bat with nails swung at your shins.” 

“Tails. Tails please.”

Vintage grinned, he’d hoped the angel would pick tails. “Excellent, I always enjoy this one. Takes a while too, draws things out longer.”

A chill crept up on the angel, whatever Vintage enjoyed was certainly not going to end well for him. Whatever it was, he’d last through it, he’d get through all of this. The demon walked around behind him, brushing his fingers through the feathers. “So pretty... since I want to mount them, I won’t pluck you bare, that would be a disservice to your wings. I can, however, still enjoy hurting them.” 

Sesame thought he meant that he’d pluck some feathers here or there, that was child’s play in comparison to losing his wings. He did not expect Vintage to bare his teeth and latch onto the skin covering the bone, a pained cry escaping him. “I really hoped it would hurt,” Vintage muttered into feathers, before clamping down again, though this time he dragged his teeth along the bone, tearing flesh and feathers as he went. As if the wounds didn’t hurt enough, the saliva from the demon stung, it hurt worse than when Navy would accidentally nick him in the heat of the moment. 

Breathing heavy, Sesame tried to focus on something, anything, besides the pain, and Vintage gave him opportunity. “Usually when I’m playing with angels, they don’t know how bad demon saliva burns, but you...” he trailed off, walking around front to look him in the eyes. “You already know that. You’re some demon’s sick little bitch that probably gets off on the pain.” 

It was either focus on the pain, or focus on the conversation, and the angel chose the latter. “I don’t... I don’t like pain.” 

“Could’ve fooled me, why else would an angel fall in love with a demon? Certainly not for a charming personality.” 

“You know nothing. Navy may not be the friendliest demon, but I love him, and nothing can change that. Not even losing my wings or my sight will deter me.” 

Vintage snorted. “How adorable, the things you’ve gone through for love, quite masochist if you ask me.” 

“I don’t like pain,” Sesame repeated. “I don’t like it when Navy accidentally hurts me, and I sure as fuck did not enjoy Emperor raking his claws along my legs when we-“ Sesame stopped dead in his tracks, he’d said too much.

Eyes wide, he watched as Vintage adopted a sick grin. “So, not only do you know the dear king, you’ve slept with him as well. You’re not a bitch, you’re a masochist slut for demons. Turns out I hit the jackpot.” 

“No, it’s not like that,” the angel tried to argue, but Vintage had already moved back behind him. “I don’t want pain.” 

“Too bad for you, I’m fully willing to admit I’m a sadistic son of a bitch who gets his laughs from torturing angels. Now, are you sure you don’t get turned on if I do this?” 

Vintage bit into the back of his neck, sinking his teeth in deep, thoroughly enjoying the sharp cry the angel let out, which was soon followed by sobbing. “No? What about this?” Vintage whispered, then leaned in close to bite his ear, the sickening sound turning the angel’s stomach. His ear was perforated, in a neat line, almost like cardboard would be, one good yank and that chunk would come off. 

The tears came freely, the pain had become too much for him to try and focus elsewhere. “Please stop,” he whined. 

“I’ve only just gotten started. Wouldn’t want to stop halfway through something, I’m not lazy. But, lucky for you, it’s time for today to end, enjoy your evening, cannot wait for tomorrow.”

Before tomorrow could arrive, Sesame had to endure the others, each coming at a different time, giving him little rest throughout the night. First, it was Double, who simply tried talking with Sesame; the angel had hope that maybe this demon was different, actually somewhat nice, but it was soon dashed when the demon mentioned that Vintage always enjoyed playing, where he would’ve already killed him. 

Next was Red, the girl scared him the moment she entered, her happiness was unsettling. “Aww wittle angel got hurt,” she said mockingly. “I don’t see why I can’t just tear your wings off, though Vintage says he likes them on for now. I hope he lets me remove them, I’ve gotten better at not killing angels.”

Finally, Omega arrived, quiet as she observed Sesame, who on instinct had flinched when she entered. “Rather weak for an angel, I’ll be surprised if you’re alive in a week.” Her tone was calm, and he wasn’t sure if it was that or the words that scared him more. 

Little rest was had, every noise made him jump in fright, making sleep near impossible, so when Vintage came back the next day, Sesame was exhausted, not to mention his nerves were on fire from the torture yesterday, but he knew that would stay for a long while yet. Wary eyes watched as the demon leaned against the opposite wall, simply observing the angel. 

“What do you want?” 

It took a minute, but eventually Vintage pushed off the wall and approached him. “I want everything. I want information, I want your wings, I want your will to live. Let’s start with information; give me useful things, and I’ll extend the precious time remaining you have with wings.” 

“I’m not telling you anything.” 

“We’ll see. Now, how did that devil spawn of a hybrid come to be?” 

“You’re a demon, aren’t you supposed to know how?”

Vintage was not amused by the deflection. “Last chance. How was the hybrid made?” 

“Go fuck the king and find out.”

There was a huff of annoyance, and Vintage left the room for a moment, soon returning with a baseball bat. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way, I really do hope you pick hard.” 

“Still won’t tell you anything.” 

There it was, the twisted grin he had earlier. “Hard way it is.” He circled round back, and fear settled into the angel; he honestly expected him to go for the wings, but a moment later, there was a loud thwack, followed by a sickening cracking sound, as Vintage swung hard at his lower spine. “Care to try again?”

Through the pain and tears, Sesame shook his head. “Go fuck yourself.”

“Mouthy little one aren’t you. Maybe after I get my answers I’ll remove that tongue of yours.” 

“Do your worst.” 

Vintage shrugged as he walked around front. “Broken spine not good enough for you?” 

Sesame didn’t see it coming, it was fast, and powerful; Vintage had brought his fist up, and connected it with Sesame’s good eye. The dull thudding pain joined the sharp pain from the break, he could already feel his eye swelling. “Don’t want to make you completely blind yet, watching what I’m doing is half the fun.”

He refused to say anything more, it hurt too much, and he wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. “Aww no witty quip about how you’re going to withstand me? Shame, I enjoy those.” Vintage frowned, then rested a hand on the angel’s chest, curling his fingers slightly so they dug into the skin, causing more pain. “One way or another I’ll get you to talk,” he muttered, raking his hand down, silver blood leaking from the newest wounds. “Hmm, I think Red would enjoy this. Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.” 

There was no way to tell how long the demon was gone for, the only light was from an overhead lamp. A laugh alerted him they were back, and a shiver ran through him; Red was the one he feared the most. “Ohh nice job. I’d have smashed more bones by now, but still.” 

“The injuries on his chest should probably be cleaned at least,” Vintage offered, Red pivoting on her heels to give him a smile. “A few more scratches may appear while you’re busy.” 

“Oh they certainly will,” Red said as she approached the angel. “Mm, think you could raise him about a foot?” Vintage nodded, pulling the angel higher, eliciting a cry from him. “Thank you,” the girl commented, then stood right before Sesame. “Poor thing got yourself hurt. Don’t worry, I’ll clean them up.” 

He had no idea what she’d do, but didn’t expect the demon to press her tongue against his injuries, trailing up as she followed the cut. His chest burned, and a fresh set of tears came, rolling down his face as Red repeated her actions on all five cuts. “You cry like a baby,” she commented, then raked her own hand down his side. “Oopsies, better get those.”

Meanwhile, Vintage watched with a smirk. “You may as well cover his torso, Red. This angel enjoys being bedded by demons.”

“Oh a rare treat for me, I just love giving angels pain, and you love being in pain.”

“I don’t- no, I don’t like it.”

Red turned to Vintage, completely ignoring him. “After you’re done with him and have his wings, can I play with this one? You gave the last one to the other two.”

“Be my guest.”

That had her smiling wide, as she bit at his skin, barely breaking it but enough to allow her saliva in. “Be a good wittle angel and lose your wings quickly, it’s been a while since I had a personal toy.”  
-  
He was alive, barely, by the fourth day; he’d lost track of how many bones were broken, he still refused to give anything up, however. Vintage was losing patience, he couldn’t do much else, it would kill him, so he finally settled for taking the wings. The last time they’d been removed, a bone saw was used; this time, Vintage chose to cut them out of his back, the knife digging in deep to sever tendons. 

It had gotten to the point where the angel’s body had shut off, shut off the pain, shut off a lot of his senses. He could see and hear, but it affected him little, his mind was broken, having fought so hard to resist telling them anything. With two chunks missing out of his back, he couldn’t even lay down without agonizing pain, but his broken spine prevented him from sitting up, much less standing and walking. 

He simply didn’t care anymore, he didn’t want his wings back once they were removed, they’d only caused too much pain in his life, as Vintage was soon to find out. The demon tried to have the upper ground, to torment the angel being de-winged, but all Sesame responded with was a barely audible “good.” Not many angels wanted their wings off, even if they had given up on everything, they still pined for their wings, but not this one. 

Sesame was given a day for recovery, the wounds were still there, but he had stopped bleeding too much by the time Red grabbed him for herself. Vintage was cold, brutal, had tormented the angel, but Red was a whole other level. She didn’t mind how broken he was, she could bite or scratch him to her heart’s content, blood was blood, and she was fascinated by angel blood, and so, she drew it wherever she could, and that was just the beginning. 

Just outside the building, without realizing he was less than fifty feet from the angel, Emperor stood with his arms crossed, he’d finally found the place. There was only one way in, one way out, he hated that, it meant there was very little room for error on his part. Entering the building even gave him chills, as the entrance hall was where the demons liked to show off the wings they’d collected; a very familiar pair of small, inky black wings greeted him. 

On high alert, he ventured inward, to see Vintage leaned against a wall , arms crossed as he watched the king. “And to what do I owe the pleasure of his Royal highness’ visit?”

“Don’t play dumb, I know you attacked Rider.”

“What of it? We let him go, have archangels gotten that weak that we actually did serious damage?”

Emperor frowned, he’d always had a distaste for this group and their manners. “No, he’s fine.”

“Then I don’t see why you’d need to come here. We got what we wanted, although on a whole this other angel was rather unhelpful. At least his wings held some use.”

“Give him back.”

Vintage shook his head. “Afraid I can’t do that, king. I’d advise you leave before the others catch you wanting to take their toy back.”

“He’s not a toy.”

“Oh, he told me a thing or two you’ve done to him, you don’t get a say in whether or not he’s a toy.”

Emperor was growing impatient. “I won’t say it again, give him back.” 

“Run along and play with your archangel, you can’t win against all four of us, it’s suicidal to try, and you know that.”

The king let out an aggravated huff, but left nonetheless; if they wouldn’t give him the angel, he’d have to take him back by force. Ultimately, he didn’t care one way or the other about the angel. Sure, Rider did, and it was entertaining to take him away from Navy on occasion, but he wasn’t attached. No, he wanted to rescue him to show that those four were still under the king, they still followed his rules. If he wanted to take them on, he’d need help. 

As much as he hated it, he knew Rider would be a valuable person to have if it came down to a fight, but two wouldn’t be enough. To fight, maybe, but to succeed? He needed a third. He had little choice, as he pulled out his phone and searched for a number. “Hello to you too Aloha, is Army available? I need to talk about exterminating some demons.” 

Aloha went quiet as he handed the phone to Army, which tipped the archangel off that something was up. “Yeah?” It was Army’s turn to fall silent as he listened to the demon king explain what exactly had happened over the course of the past week.

“Again? I don’t know if I can reattach them twice, they’ll just be dead weight on his back, nerves are probably dead at this point... yeah, yeah I can get him out if you two need me to. I’ll be over soon.” 

Army ended the call, and handed the phone to Aloha. “Keep this on you, and please don’t wander off, I’m not mounting two rescues in a single day.” 

“Rescue? Why does Emperor want demons dead? Army, what’s happened?” 

The archangel closed his eyes and sighed. “I’m sure you’ve heard of Vintage and his group, long story short I’m probably going to have to reattach Sesame’s wings... again.” 

“Fuck... what the actual flying fuck do those fuckers want from him? He’s- he’s so tiny and isn’t a threat to anyone. Even- Army please let me tag along.” 

“I didn’t realize you were so attached to the angel.” 

Aloha did have a genuine look of concern. “It’s not that I don’t care about the guy, he’s sweet n all... but that’s not why I want to tag along. No, there’s a succubus among them and I will be surprised if the angel isn’t just a breathing shell with no one home.”

“You can’t fly properly, too dangerous.”

“I can fly just fine.” 

“This isn’t up for debate. We’ll do our best, and thank you for the information, but your ass is staying put.” Before there was a free moment to argue, Army took off, leaving a cross Aloha behind. 

The three met up outside the barriers, Army still wasn’t allowed in; Prince was currently watching Truffle, the two looking out of a window as the group of three left. It was about a half hour flight outside the city, each silently dealing with their own nerves. Rider had already experienced the group, and knew if he got separated, he was screwed. Army didn’t like the situation one bit, having been tasked with retrieval of wings and angel. Emperor was nervous, there’d be little space for moving around, unless they lured them all outside. That and if he went primal, the energy released could very well kill the weakened angel. 

Each landed with a soft thud on grass, the building before then exuding darkness. “Wings are in the entrance hall,” Emperor told Army. “I don’t know where he is though.”

“Aloha gave me some information to where he’d be, I really hope he’s wrong though.” 

As Army inspected the entrance, how the door worked and such, Emperor turned to Rider. “If things go bad, I need you to fly back home.” 

“Not happening. If things go bad, tear the roof off the building. I know you can create chaos.”

“It’s extremely risky with you here.” 

Rider shook his head. “Just do whatever it takes to kill them.” 

“Fine, fine, now how do you propose- Rider? Rider?”

Emperor spun around frantically until he heard Rider yelling. “Hey fuckfaces, get out here for a rematch!” 

That was certainly one way to draw their attention. 

Army laid in wait, hidden from view; with all of the demons focused on Rider, he could be almost undetected. Just as they’d hoped, all four left the building, going to face Rider for calling them out. Once they were at a good enough distance, Army slipped in, and was faced with a hall of horrors for him; the wings on display made him ill. There had to be at least twenty five pairs there, but his eyes zeroed in on the small black ones, of course it was their centre piece. 

Making note of where they were, he delved deeper into the building, trying the downstairs first. He was looking for something, anything, a low moan, a flicker of energy, some sort of sign. Room after room he checked, the nightmarish things he saw going over his head as he continued to look. “Shit come on, make a noise...” 

He’d checked every possible room underground, and headed to the top floor to work his way down. “Please be here... please, we need to go sooner rather than later,” Army spoke to himself. It had to have been a half hour of searching, when he finally heard it, very laboured breaths. Frantically, he tried to pinpoint the sound, opening door after door, before finally finding him. 

The small angel looked like death, the only indication he still lived was the breathing and occasional blinking. He had bandages around his torso, though they were soaked in blood, much like the rest of his body, his hair was even matted with it, and his good eye had swollen shut. “Shit,” Army muttered, quickly crossing over to him, and attempted to pick him up. 

There was a sharp cry that left him, the break in his spine, still very much there, had been agitated by Army’s attempt, scaring the archangel. “I’m sorry, I know this’ll hurt but I need to pick you up.” Wincing at the cries of pain, Army picked him up, holding him tight. “Just need your wings and we’re out of here.” 

The trip was swift, Army simply flying up to grab the pair mounted on a plaque, and then out the door he went, flying as fast as he could back to his house. 

While Army had been inside searching, Rider and Emperor had been keeping the demons busy; Rider having two chase him into the sky, while Emperor fought against two on the ground. As soon as the noticed Army flying away, they shifted tactics, they could go all out, at least the king could. While Emperor began to shift to his primal form, something that caused Vintage and Red to immediately engage him in an attempt to stop it, Rider finally led Omega and Double to the ground, where he could fight them. 

Perhaps it had been on the cocky side for Vintage to assume Emperor couldn’t beat them, as he began to rethink his words earlier when he noticed just how tall Emperor had gotten. Still, a fight was a fight, and he was determined to not lose. 

Rider was in a fistfight, finally landing hits on both when the demons realized that Vintage might need help. Determined to stop them, Rider tried to tackle Omega, but missed, the girl easily dodging him. 

With all four focused on Emperor, they thought there was a chance, they thought they’d at least match him in strength. Rider knew first hand how strong Emperor was in that form, and watched as he gripped both Red and Double in one hand, then tightened his fist. 

Many bones being broken could be heard, the two demons now completely limp in his hand. Dropping them as though they were trash, Emperor advanced onto Vintage, but Omega stood before him, wings outstretched in a feeble attempt to block the king. There was a low grumble of annoyance, and Emperor grabbed her. 

Fearing she’d meet the same fate as her friends, she closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. It never came, as she soon felt as though she was flying, rather quickly. Confused, she opened her eyes, and realized she’d been thrown, though at the speed she traveled, she couldn’t hope to open her wings. All she could do was brace for a hard landing. 

After Emperor had thrown Omega, Vintage still stood his ground. “If I can wait it out, you’ll have to change back. I know this taxes you.” 

He was right, it did tax the king, but Emperor planned on reverting before that time came. Rider could see the change already starting, so he stood between the two demons to block the king from Vintage. A hand on his shoulder told him that the king had finished, and Rider stepped aside, face pulled into a frown at Vintage. 

“I’m not some weak demon you can squeeze the life out of.”

“No, you’re right, and that’s far to generous for you,” Emperor answered. No more words were exchanged, the king simply moving his hand to the side, the upwards. In an instant, spears that radiated darkness shot out from all angles, piercing Vintage with ease. As soon as Emperor turned around, the spears vanished, Vintage’s body dropping to the ground, blood pooling around him. 

The king began to walk away, he still was a bit too tired to fly back, but Rider stayed still, conflicted. “What about all the other wings? Shouldn’t we try to track down the angels-“

“All of the owners of those wings are long since dead, Rider. Your friend is a lucky one. Leave them, someone or another will find them, it’s not my concern. Now come along, we need to go.”  
-  
Aloha opened the door, his body turning cold at the sight of what Army carried. “Is he... is he still in there?” 

“I don’t know, he hasn’t said a word and only blinks and breathes.” 

“Crap. I readied the guest bedroom, I tried to get everything you’d need.” 

Army offered him a smile as thanks, then took the angel upstairs, to begin working on him. “I know you’re probably just in pain, but I need you to say something, anything.”

“Spine broken,” was all Sesame could whisper, though it was more than enough. 

Before he laid him down, Army looked at Aloha at the doorway. “He said his spine is broken.” 

Relief flooded Aloha, who quickly ducked out to call Navy. “We got him. He’s... you’ll see for yourself, he’s in bad shape.” 

All Navy needed to know was that he was rescued, that was enough for him, at least he thought. By the time it took him to go over, Army had already begun the arduous task of cleaning the blood, which meant unwrapping the bandage on his torso, revealing the two sizeable holes in his back. 

There wasn’t even a knock, Navy simply entered the home, headed straight to the guest room, only to find his way blocked by Aloha. “Let me see him.” 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. Navy, wait, trust me on this.” 

“I’m seeing him, now move.” 

Trying to avoid conflict, Aloha allowed him to pass, and watched as the short demon entered the room, finally taking in how much damage had been done. It was like a nightmare, that couldn’t be him, Navy thought. He couldn’t look any longer, it hurt too much; without a word, he left the room and leaned against the hallway wall, then slid down. Pulling his knees to his chest, Navy put his hands on the crown of his head, pulling it down to his knees. He was scared. 

He couldn’t think about it, he didn’t want to, it caused too much pain to even remotely imagine the shredded and broken body Army was trying to fix. Aloha crouched down, looking over the now shaking demon. “He’ll heal, it’ll just take time.” 

It’s as though Navy wasn’t listening, all he was doing was shaking and muttering “can’t” over and over. 

“Hey, let’s go downstairs for a bit. Then you can see him when he’s in a bit better shape, okay?” Aloha offered, glancing at Army who nodded. While Navy was reluctant to move, he got up, intentionally trying to keep his eyes away from the doorway. “Do you like tea?”

While Aloha took the demon downstairs, Army let out a sigh, there was much work to be done. Before anything, though, he got up and closed the door; he’d have to move his spine back into position, and that would certainly make him cry, and didn’t want the others hearing. “I’m sorry, I know this will hurt a lot,” he muttered, not expecting any response. With a deep breath to steady himself, Army grabbed the small angel’s hips, and tried to gently shift him back into position. 

As predicted, he cried in pain, quiet pleas to stop were whispered in repeat, but Army shook his head. “I can’t, you need to have it healed. Give me a minute more and I will weld it.” 

“Hurts too much,” he heard whispered. 

“I know. But I need to do this.” 

Finally his spine was aligned, and Army quickly mended the bone, though it would still be very fragile, he’d have to stay in bed until it fully mended. “What else is broken?”

“Me.”

The answer hurt, but now was not the time. “Bones, what bones are broken.”

Sesame went quiet, he didn’t want to list off everything that had been broken, it was to much effort. “Fine, then this will hurt, a lot.” Hands gently ran down each limb, feeling for any misalignments, unfortunately finding many; each leg had at least two, his arms multiple, even his feet. “This will take a while.”

Downstairs, Aloha sat on the couch, Navy on the opposite end, still curled up. “He’s lucky, you know.” 

Green eyes flicked up to look at Aloha. “How the fuck is he lucky, he’s almost dead.” 

“Yeah, but that’s still better. There was a succubus among that group. I don’t know if she ever got near him, but if she did, he’s lucky to still be here.” 

“This is all my fault.” 

Aloha frowned. “How can this possibly be your fault?” 

“Well, if he hadn’t found me, he wouldn’t have any need to call for help, he wouldn’t know Rider, he wouldn’t know that bastard of a king, he wouldn’t have gone over.” 

“He found you injured, didn’t he? Well, who injured you?” 

Navy bowed his head down. “I don’t know, I think it was a hunter but I never saw them.” 

“Then all of this is their fault, not yours. You had no control over being attacked, so stop blaming yourself.” 

“Real fucking hard to if loving me has caused this much pain.” 

Aloha moved closer, trying to make his point. “This isn’t your fault.” Silence settled between the two, though Aloha could never stand being quiet. “I’m gonna go see Army, see what he has to say.” 

“Kay.” It was unusual, there was no fight to him, he was still bothered by self blame. 

Putting that aside for the moment, Aloha ran through the house, up the stairs, only to find the door closed. “Army, can I come in?” 

The archangel looked at the door, then at the angel, he’d have to pause his work. “Yeah, come in.” 

Aloha came in quietly, carefully closing the door, and looked over the two angels. “So... what all happened?” 

“From what I know so far, his spine was broken, as was most other bigger bones in his body. Then there’s the cuts, the bruising, and of course his wings. Those I’ll try to put back on, but-“ 

“No, no more wings,” Sesame breathed. “No wings.” 

Aloha and Army stared at each other with wide eyes, how screwed up did they make him that he thought he’d be better off without wings? 

“I need to reattach them, it’s the only way to properly help you.” 

“Please no.” 

“You probably won’t have any feeling in them, I don’t even know if you’ll be able to fly again, but they need to go on your back, where they belong.” 

There was no more fight out of Sesame, he’d accepted he’d have to have them back, even though he hated it, and wanted to ask them to cut them off. Army turned to Aloha. “I don’t know how broken his mind is. Once I have his wings stitched on, bring Navy in here. He won’t want to but he needs to be here, he’s the best chance of bringing any resemblance of him back.” 

With a nod, Aloha left, closing the door behind him once more, and quietly made his way back to Navy. The demon looked vulnerable. “He’s gonna be okay,” Aloha tried to encourage him. “I talked to Army, he said it’s only broken bones, his wings, and the surface cuts and bruising. He’s reattaching the wings soon.” Aloha fell quiet for a moment, trying to figure out how to word it. “Army wants you to go in after he’s done with the wings.”

“I can’t, I can’t see him that hurt.” 

“You need to.” The incubus looked down, very unusual behaviour for him. “We don’t know how broken his mind is, but it’s broken enough that he begged Army not to put his wings back on.”

Navy stared at Aloha, unsure what he should do. “He- Sess said that?” 

“He doesn’t want them.” 

It didn’t make sense, he’d been distraught over any damage that had been done to them before, but now he didn’t want them? Without thinking, Navy stood up, making his way to the stairs, Aloha running to catch up. “You need to wait until Army is done.” 

“No, he needs me now. I am the worst boyfriend for not being beside him until now, let me fix that.” 

“If you go in there now, you risk interrupting Army reattaching wings. He’s trying to work with tendons and nerves, very delicate work.” 

Navy let out a grunt of disapproval, but sat down on the bottom step. “The moment I can, I’m going in there.” 

It was a long wait, he was starting to get sore when Army finally opened the door, he was going to wash his hands, but called downstairs that they were free to visit. Aloha had never seen Navy move so quickly, the short demon bolting up the stairs and into the room. By the time he got there, he’d already knelt on the floor, his head resting beside Sesame’s. 

“I love you,” Navy whispered, hand reaching out and running it through a few strands of hair. 

“Take them off.” 

His heart broke hearing that; sure, Aloha had told him he wanted that, but to hear it first hand. “I can’t, I won’t.”

With great effort, Sesame rotated his head so he was looking the other was; laying on his stomach made things rather difficult. He hurt everywhere, his mind was broken, and the one person he trusted wouldn’t do as he asked. Navy was determined, however, and moved to the other side of the bed. “Sess, we’ll get them working again. You don’t have to have them removed.” 

Turquoise eyes simply stared at him, watering from, in his mind, a betrayal. “Off.” 

“No. I love you, but you’re not in a position to make that decision.”

He still couldn’t see very well, the swelling around his good eye making it difficult, but he could make out a basic shape of Navy, who was leaning forward to kiss his forehead. Panicking, the angel moved his head back, Navy stopping when he realized the reaction he was getting. “What’s wrong?” he asked in concern, going back to kneeling on the floor. 

Sesame didn’t have a good answer for him, he was broken, he was tormented for even enduring a simple kiss from a demon. He closed his eyes, a few tears slipping down, he couldn’t be near a demon, any demon, without think of what was said, what he was called. Navy glanced behind him, both Aloha and Army watched with concern. 

“Sess, I-“

“Leave me alone.” 

“No I’m not going anywhere.”

The tears picked up pace, this was first time since he was rescued they’d seen him cry. “Please go,” he cried, barely a whisper came out. “I can’t- I- no demons.” 

Before Navy could reply, Aloha was grabbing the back of his shirt and dragging him out of the room, closing the door behind him. Still not letting go, Aloha brought him downstairs, and outside the back door. Army lived in a rather isolated area, his house densely surrounded by trees, the forest going on for miles in two directions. 

“Fucking let go I need to be with him,” Navy nearly yelled, struggling against the grip. 

Aloha simply shook his head, and continued to walk deeper into the forest, far away from the house. “Whether you like it or not he needs to not have demons around him, and I’d much prefer him do this than what I did.” 

Navy finally managed to free himself, crossing his arms in annoyance. “How is this any better? I can’t see him because someone fucked his brain so bad I hurt him.”

“Trust me. After I got attacked, Army yelled at me, I was terrified, I couldn’t think straight, I still hurt. I didn’t want to be near any angels, so I barricaded myself in the office for a week, starving myself in the process.” 

“He wouldn’t- he’s too clingy, Sess wouldn’t do that.” 

Aloha shook his head. “I’m normally happy, sociable, bubbly-“

“Annoying as fuck.”

“To you. But I was hurt, and I wasn’t. It’s why I’m hoping Army can at least stay with him until he’s on the mend. And in the meantime, I’m staying by you.” Navy grumbled about not needing a babysitter, that he’d be fine on his own; the incubus thought otherwise. “I don’t want you doing stupid shit so that when he is finally better, you’re there for him, not off doing who knows what in anger. Just stay at our house for now, please? We can run over to your place and grab clothes and things.”

“Fine, whatever floats your fucking boat.”


End file.
